• YOUR exclusive story about a Camden care home is a reminder of the crucial role these institutions play in our community (Council care home loses pensioner suffering from dementia, March 15).

But are your readers aware that almost one in six people who provide social services in Camden are from other European Union countries; and that almost half of their managers come from the EU?

If not they should use the May council elections to ask the candidates what they will do at both a national and local level to prevent a hard Brexit deal from leaving these vital services understaffed.

Care workers in both the private and public sectors provide much-needed help to the elderly, children, disabled, the infirm and their families.

Sadly they have always received less care and attention than their counterparts in the National Health Service, and this threat from Brexit is another example.

There has rightly been a lot of publicity about the threat to services at the hospitals that serve the borough, UCLH, the Royal Free, and the Whittington, if the EU citizens who work as doctors, nurses and ancillary staff no longer feel welcome in the UK. This danger applies equally to social services.

Figures from the Skills for Care database analysed by Open Britain Hampstead show that 211 out of the 1,412 people who work in the sector in the borough come from other European countries as well as from EEA members Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.

This means that 14.9 per cent, or almost one in seven, Camden care workers are from the EU and the other three states.

The figures for registered managers are even more startling: 46.7 per cent come from EU or other EEA countries. Any departures or difficulties in recruiting would leave the sector even weaker.

Nationally nursing homes and other adult care services are losing vital staff as a result of Brexit, according to unions, NHS, and social care providers.

We hope that all candidates standing in the elections for Camden Council on May 3 will set out what they will do to protect the status and jobs EU citizens who have come to the UK to provide care for local people, and that they will lobby central government to ensure that potential migrant workers from the EU are made welcome and given the legal protection they need.

A hard Brexit or a collapse in negotiations that leads to Britain crashing out of the EU will cause immense damage to the British economy and to the jobs, incomes, and wellbeing of its citizens. The impact of the sudden loss of staff in the care services would be devastating.

It is essential that all potential councillors make their position on the EU clear, as well as their plans to protect local EU nationals and their jobs, so that people know what they’re voting for.

Voters in the May elections have an opportunity to seek answers on this vital issue from the people who want to represent us.

PHIL THORNTON
Volunteer, Open Britain Hampstead